Waking up to Wisdom In Stillness and Community

Reader comment on Brother David Steindl-Rast's passage ...

On Jul 2, 2016david doane wrote:

To mother is to nurture and foster the other's growth. It's doing what is best for the other, not what is easiest or most convenient for the mother. It's not selfish, it's not possessive, it's not controlling. When being a healthy mother -- be it as a parent, teacher, friend, neighbor -- I encourage the other to become their own self, do their thing, develop their own interest and talent. When I do that, I don't try to get them to be or do what I want. They aren't me. I give up the illusion that they are me. I let go of trying to own them. In so doing, I'm not letting the other down, I'm encouraging their getting up. Leisure is time during which I let go of being goal-directed, let go of have to and should, and follow my interest and my heart. In leisure I am free, true to me, doing what is good and healthy for me, becoming whole and holy. Practicing such leisure helps me to experience leisure as a virtue and a privilege.